The African Development Bank Group has spotlighted the Algeria-Tamanrasset railway as one of the continent’s most transformative infrastructure projects, underscoring its strategic importance as a trans-Saharan corridor critical to accelerating the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Speaking at the Bank’s annual meetings in Brazzaville, Vice President Marie Laure Akin Olugbade told dzwatch that the Bank’s financing of the first phase — covering Laghouat, Ghardaïa, and El Menia — represents “the largest project the Bank has ever undertaken in Algeria.”
The line traverses Algiers, Laghouat, Ghardaïa, El Menia, In Salah, and Tamanrasset, with completion expected by end of 2028 — a deadline set by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who described it as “the bet of the new century, no less significant than Gara Djebilet.”
The Bank approved $11 billion in total financing in 2025 — its second-highest figure ever — projected to create 4.1 million direct and indirect jobs. Cumulative approved loans for 2021–2025 reached $32.7 billion.
